20170317- 2nd Khutba - Sheikh Arsalan

Opening Khutbah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، أَحْمَدُهُ، وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ، وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ. وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ تَعَالَى مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا، وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، وَصَفِيُّهُ وَخَلِيلُهُ، بَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ، وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ، وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ، وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ حَتَّى أَتَاهُ الْيَقِينُ.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ، وَصَحَابَتِهِ الصَّالِحِينَ الْغُرِّ الْمَيَامِينَ، وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Story of the Injured Companion

Brothers and sisters, there is a hadith narrated by Jabir ibn Abdillah رضي الله تعالى عنه, in which he says that once there was a group of companions that were traveling away from the Prophet ﷺ. And while they were on their journey, one of them was injured. He hit his head against a rock that left a wound that was very severe on his head. And then to make matters even more difficult, in the morning when he woke up, he woke up in a state of janabah — he had a wet dream. So in order to perform Salat al-Fajr, he needed to perform tahara. But he was concerned about the wound on his head. He was worried that if he performs ghusl, it will infect the wound and cause him to become very ill.

So he asked the companions that were with him and said, this is my situation, do you think that I can perform tayammum? So the companions that were with him said to him, no, you cannot make tayammum, because Allah has only allowed tayammum for those who do not have water with them. Because Allah says in the Qur'an:

"When they don't find water, then perform tayammum." So they said, we have water with us, so you cannot perform tayammum, you must perform ghusl. So based on this fatwa that he got from those that were with him, he performed ghusl. And he, as a result of the water infecting the wound, he got so ill that he died. And they had to bury him. And they went back to Medina and informed the Prophet ﷺ about what had happened.

And the Prophet ﷺ became angry. It's one of those few incidents in the seerah in which we see the Prophet ﷺ — his face turns colors. He becomes visibly angry. And he said:

"They killed him. May God kill them." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 336)

And then he said, why didn't they ask if they didn't know? Because the cure of ignorance is asking those who know. And then he said that it would have been sufficient for the man to wrap something around his head and wash the rest of his body and simply wipe over the bandage and perform tayammum as a substitute for that.

The Danger of Ignorance in the Deen

Brothers and sisters, what we learned from this is that when we do not know the basics of our deen, it can actually harm us. When we don't have people that we can go to to ask questions — people who are qualified, and people who are not just learning in the text but in the context in which the questioner is coming from — then the answer that is given can actually bring harm. And it can be a very wrong answer.

The Prophet ﷺ told us that towards the end of time, Allah will lift knowledge from this earth. Until he said:

"People will take as their sources of knowledge those who are actually ignorant in the deen, and so those people will give fatwa without being grounded in knowledge, and as a result they will misguide themselves and misguide others." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 100; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2673)

Brothers and sisters, I had a man who came to me — not in this community, in another community where I was traveling. He came to me and he told me that he had a disagreement with his wife. And she decided to leave the house in anger. And she went out of town to another town. And while she was out of town, she went to the masjid of that town and she talked to the imam of that masjid and she told him that, I don't like my husband, I want you to divorce me from him. And so that imam never talked to the husband, never talked to the other side. Simply because the woman came to him and made a story, he declared that he is divorcing her from her husband. And then a month or two later, she marries another man. And this husband finds out later and they have children together.

Brothers and sisters, if we don't learn the basics of our deen, we can harm ourselves, we can harm people around us.

Prophetic Warnings About the End of Times

The Prophet ﷺ spoke a lot about the end of times. He told us what to expect, what's going to happen towards the end of times. In one hadith, he said ﷺ:

"Before the end of times, there will be days in which knowledge will be lifted and ignorance will prevail." It was asked: what is al-harj? He said: al-harj is killing. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7061)

I can't tell you how many people I have met who are working professionals in their thirties, born and raised in this country, people who were very actively involved in their MSAs, people who are actually currently very active in various Islamic organizations, Muslim activists. They're doing great things for the deen. They have beards. They wear hijab. They come to the masjid even. You even find them attending sessions of ilm, halaqat here and there, conferences here and there. But they don't know the basics of tahara. They don't know the basics of zakat. They don't know the basics of prayer. They don't know where to go if they want to understand an ayah of the Qur'an or a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. They don't know which books to go to. This is what the Prophet ﷺ is talking about — ignorance will prevail.

We have a lot of workers, a lot of people passionate about Islamic work. Alhamdulillah. But where is the passion for learning our deen? We have a lot of people that are passionate about their children becoming huffadh, their children learning the Qur'an, their children having classes in the masjid, their children having programs that they can attend — their children, their children, their children. Yes, our children are important. But our children need role models at home. They need to see their older siblings and parents attending classes as well. What about us? When are we going to learn the basics of our deen?

But this is what the Prophet ﷺ said. Towards the end of times, knowledge will be lifted, ignorance will prevail. And he said something else that's very interesting — he connected between violence and extremism on the one hand, and ignorance of our deen on the other hand. And he didn't just do this in one hadith. There are several hadiths in which he indicates that. There's another one in which he said ﷺ:

"Time will begin to pass quickly, knowledge will be lifted, tribulations will become widespread, people will become greedy, and there will be much bloodshed and killing." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7061; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 157)

Fitan — tribulations, chaos, confusion — will become widespread. People become greedy. And a lot of bloodshed, a lot of killing. People killing in the name of Islam. People quoting the Qur'an and hadith to justify what they're doing because they don't have a proper understanding of that which they are quoting. They sound like they're following the Qur'an and the Sunnah. They can quote it to you. They can recite the Qur'an very well. And this is also something that the Prophet ﷺ talked about. He said:

"There will come a time upon my ummah when there will be many reciters of the Qur'an but few who have deep understanding of it, knowledge will be lifted, and killing will become widespread. Then after that will come a time when men from my ummah will recite the Qur'an but it will not pass beyond their throats. Then after that will come a time when the one who associates partners with Allah will argue with the believer using the same type of arguments." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 6496; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, Hadith 8624)

There will come a time upon my ummah when there will be a lot of people who are Qurra — a lot of reciters of the Qur'an, a lot of people who can recite the Qur'an, who can quote the Qur'an. They quote you the verse from the Qur'an. وَيَقِلُّ الْفُقَهَاءُ — but those who have a deep understanding of the Qur'an will be very few. وَيُقْبَضُ الْعِلْمُ — and knowledge will be slowly removed. وَيَكْثُرُ الْهَرْجُ — and again, killing and bloodshed becomes widespread. Connecting between ignorance and extremism and violence.

Then after that, there will come a time when there will be people from my ummah that will recite the Qur'an but it will not go beyond their throat. In other words, they will quote it, but there is no fahm, there is no understanding, there is no internalization of the Qur'an. They'll speak it, they'll quote it, they'll recite it, but it doesn't go beyond their throat. It doesn't seep into the heart, which is the seat of ma'rifa, which is the seat of nurus — of deep understanding and knowledge.

Then after that, there will come a time when even those who disbelieve in Allah will argue with those who believe فِي مِثْلِ مَا يَقُولُ — using the same type of arguments that believers use. In other words, non-Muslims will be considered experts on Islam because they can tell you what al-Qurtubi said, and what al-Tabari said, and what the Qur'an says, and what the Sunnah says. They will use the same language, but completely skewing it to give it a different meaning. These are all prophecies of the Prophet ﷺ about the end of times, and they underscore for us the importance of learning our deen.

Knowledge Versus Action

The Prophet ﷺ also said in a hadith:

"You are living at a time when there are many people of deep understanding and few orators, many who give and few who ask — at that time action is better than knowledge. And there will come a time when there are few people of deep understanding and many orators, many who ask and few who give — at that time knowledge is better than action." (al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; cf. similar narrations in Musnad Ahmad)

He said ﷺ, talking to his companions: you, my companions, you are living at a time when there are a lot of fuqaha — a lot of people who have a deep, solid understanding of this deen. But those among you who can get up and give speeches, they're few. It is said that Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله تعالى عنه, when he became the khalifa and he was giving the first ever khutbah that he gave, he became tongue-tied. He couldn't speak. And he basically said, there's a first time for everything, insha'Allah next time will be better. قُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ — He said, let's start the prayer. The companions were not all great speakers, though some of them were — Ali رضي الله تعالى عنه was. But they had a solid understanding of their deen.

So he said: الْعَمَلُ فِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ — in your time, work and action is better than knowledge. However, he said, there will come a time when things will be reversed. Those who can give speeches will be many. But those who have a deep, correct, and solid understanding of this deen will be very few. Those who are willing to give فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ will be very few. Those who are asking for money will be many. He said: at that time, الْعِلْمُ فِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ — knowledge will be better than action. Seeking knowledge will be better than action and work.

All of these ahadith and others, brothers and sisters, highlight for us the importance of being on a path of learning. Being on a path of seeking knowledge. Seeking knowledge is not just for children.

Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

May Allah teach us that which is beneficial and help us benefit from what we learn. أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ، إِيَّاهُ فَوْزُ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ.

Second Part of the Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، أَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةِ وَأَتَمُّ التَّسْلِيمِ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ. Brothers and sisters, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As رضي الله تعالى عنهما narrates a hadith in which he says that the Prophet ﷺ was talking about the end of times, about the fitnah. And among what he said was:

"When you see that people have broken their promises, betrayed their trusts, and become like this" — and he interlaced between his fingers. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4342)

He said ﷺ, you will see at that time that مَرِجَتْ عُهُودُهُمْ — people will break their promises. وَخَفَّتْ أَمَانَاتُهُمْ — and they will betray their trusts. وَكَانُوا هَكَذَا — and he interlaced between his fingers, indicating that everything will be mixed together. Just like the fingers are mixing together, things will be mixed together. It will become difficult to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, truth from falsehood. What is the correct understanding of Islam and what is the incorrect understanding of Islam? Is this halal or haram? Is this ja'iz or not? Is this allowed or not? Is this required or not? Things will become mixed together. People who are true representatives of the scholarly tradition that has been passed down to us will be mixed with those who have their own novel personal interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

The Prophetic Advice: Hold Fast to What You Know

And in order to distinguish between them, what do we do? So the companion said, Ya Rasulullah, what do you advise us to do at that time? He gave several pieces of advice. And among the things he said was:

"Hold on to that which you recognize and leave off that which is strange." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4342)

خُذْ بِمَا تَعْرِفُ — hold on to that which you recognize, that which you know. Hold on to that. Take that which you know, which you recognize, which is familiar to you. وَدَعْ مَا تُنْكِرُ — and leave off that which is strange, that is new, that departs from what is mainstream, what is orthodox, what has been handed down to us through 14 centuries of scholarship, through an unbroken chain going back to the Prophet ﷺ. That was his advice. And that's why it is important for us to learn — to learn so that we can distinguish what is new from what is well-established and mainstream. We need to learn in order to be able to distinguish.

Introducing the Ma'rifah Program

Insha'Allah, we're starting a program called Ma'rifah — Ma'rifah, which means knowledge, deep experiential knowledge. This is a program which will offer classes for people who love to make excuses: oh, I'm too busy; oh, I have classes; oh, I have children. The classes will be offered to suit your schedule insha'Allah. The classes are geared towards college students, young professionals, and adults in general who are serious in learning their deen. They'll be offered in the evenings, they'll be offered on the weekends, there'll be recordings so that if you miss a class you can make up. So it shouldn't leave us with any excuses.

We need to pursue this path. But this path requires time. It requires time. And it requires consistency and continuity. Enough of attending a dars here, a dars there, reading an article here, watching a YouTube video there. That's good for inspiration — that's also important. When the iman is low, to come to the masjid, to sit in a dars, to feel that recharge, that boost — it's good too, it's important. But learning methodically is also very important, brothers and sisters.

The Six Requirements for Attaining Knowledge

Imam al-Shafi'i rahimahullah said:

He said: my brother, you will not attain knowledge except if you have six things. I will tell you exactly what they are:

ذَكَاء — intelligence. وَحِرْص — eagerness to learn. وَاجْتِهَاد — hard work. It's not enough to be interested. It's not enough to have a passion and desire. We have to put in the work. وَبُلْغَة — some sustenance, so that you don't have to worry about working more hours and you can concentrate on attending classes. وَصُحْبَةُ أُسْتَاذ — the company of a teacher. A real teacher. Not some recorded lecture on YouTube that you watch and then you don't know how much of it you understood properly. You have no chance to ask questions and interact and learn not just from the lecture of the teacher but the mannerisms, the way that they carry themselves. صُحْبَةُ أُسْتَاذ — the company of a teacher. وَطُولُ زَمَان — and a long time.

Learning this deen is important but the method that we follow in learning the deen is also just as important. Too many of us — especially the young ones among us — take a lot of our learning from the internet and we think that we are learning, but that's not the proper way to learn. We jump — we want to know about advanced issues before we have mastered the basics. That's why we get into arguments, because we don't understand the basics and so we're misunderstanding things because we haven't mastered the basics.

Insha'Allah, the program that we're introducing will offer classes in a methodical way, in a gradual way. You'll find flyers outside in the lobby on your way out — it will say Ma'rifah on it. The first class is starting next Saturday, March 26th, insha'Allah.

I hope and pray that Allah عز وجل will always teach us that which is beneficial to us. May Allah teach us more of this deen. May Allah help us benefit from whatever He teaches us. Ameen. Ameen. JazakAllah khair.